Jefferson Parish Council members who join the weekend festivities at the International Tarpon Rodeo on Grand Isle customarily stick around after their annual meeting there. Or they shuttle between the mainland and the barrier island, to balance work and fun.

Councilman Ricky Templet, whose district includes Grand Isle, is doing something different this year. Templet said he's been in Grand Isle since Saturday with his wife, son and daughter, and will stay through the weekend. That's because Templet is the rodeo's 2014 president, an appointment he deemed "an honor."

"I am continuing the tradition of kicking off that rodeo tomorrow evening," Templet said after Wednesday's council meeting.

It's a largely ceremonial post. But Templet said he has helped coordinate various festivities associated with the rodeo, including the President's Welcome Party at the Grand Isle Pavilion on Thursday night. The party is open to the public, and Rockin' Dopsie will provide the music starting at 6 p.m.

Templet said he last spent the full pre-rodeo week in Grand Isle about 35 years ago, when he was teenager. The 86-year-old fishing tournament didn't attract the fanfare then that it does today, Templet recalled. Water service in particular was spotty.

"I grew up coming to the rodeo as a little boy. That's back in the day when you just had a small tent. You were walking around in the rocks and the oyster shells," Templet said. "You had to wait until 1 o'clock or 2 o'clock in the morning to take a bath because the island didn't have good running water."

These days, Templet is as likely to sail to Grand Isle as he is to drive. He said he's owned a fishing camp in the Lafitte area for 18 years, and he likes to fish the waters between there and Grand Isle in his 22-foot boat. He said he's done plenty of fishing the past few days, in addition to touring the island and eating at local restaurants.

"We've enjoyed it," Templet said. "The beach, the people, the culture, the fishing. ... The fishing here is the best fishing of anywhere in the country."